Home Fire

Home Fire

• Genre: Fiction; historical
• Originally Published: 2017
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1070L; college/adult
• Structure/Length: 9 chapters; approx. 288 pages; approx. 7 hours, 54 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Aneeka Pasha, a young Muslim woman determined to help her brother, Parvaiz, escape from his treacherous decision to join ISIS, leans into her faith in family, love, and fairness. The British Home Secretary, Karamat Lone, wields his power to keep Parvaiz out of England, with tragic results.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Terrorism, violence, discrimination

Kamila Shamsie

• Bio: Born in 1973 in Pakistan; earned a BA from Hamilton College and MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst; moved to England in 2007; maintains dual-citizenship in England and Pakistan; published her first book at 25; Prime Minister Award for Literature in Pakistan (1999); Patras Bokhari Award (2002, 2005); Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (2010); chosen as Fellow at Royal Society of Literature and for Granta Best of Young British Novelists List; has participated in international events; played on the Authors XI Cricket team; continues to teach
• Other Works: In the City by the Sea (1998); Broken Verses (2005); Burnt Shadows (2009)
• Awards: Women’s Prize for Fiction, Hellenic Prize  

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Intersection of Birthplace and National Identity
• Loyalty to the Family Versus Loyalty to the State
• Crisis of Masculinity and Its Consequences

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the genre conventions of tragedy adapted by Kamila Shamsie as part of Home Fire.
• Read paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Religious and National Identity, Loyalty, and Masculinity.
• Outline an advocacy campaign and write a persuasive letter using ethos, logos, and pathos that argues for improving how British Muslims are treated in the United Kingdom.
• Analyze and evaluate plot and character details to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding family, religious identity, and masculinity.